Field Of Disaster Risk Reduction Research Articles

Evolution of disaster risk governance and its implication to resilience building in Nepal

The concept of disaster risk governance has evolved in line with international trends in the face of various challenges, such as sustainable development, climate change, and urbanization. Nepal, a country prone to natural disasters, has a history of disaster risk governance. The 2015 Earthquake caused extensive damage, but disaster risk governance in Nepal was re-established as reconstruction progressed. Ratification of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR) was also adopted in 2015, and the establishment of a federal system on a new constitution was promulgated in the same year, decentralized responsibility for disaster risk management from the center to the regions. This paper attempts to identify the evolution of disaster risk governance in Nepal, considering the above background and the impact of civil society interventions and technological advances in the disaster risk reduction field.

Assessing resilience through social networks: A case study of flood disaster management in China

The study of resilience has gained significant traction in the field of disaster risk reduction (DRR) due to the escalating frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as floods. Social capital accumulated within social networks comprising stakeholders serves as a crucial resource for the establishment of disaster resilience. Therefore, this study examines and evaluates resilience to changes within DRR process through a social capital perspective. First, it embraces the conceptual framework of disaster resilience through social capital and elucidates six distinct forms of social capital relevant to enhancing disaster resilience. Subsequently, the governance structure of flood emergency management in China is thoroughly examined and a disaster resilience assessment system is established from the standpoint of social capital using a social network analysis methodology. Finally, using the case of the devastating flooding triggered by the 7–20 rainstorm in Henan, China, resilience levels are measured at various stages of the flooding employing 4R theory. The results of this study will aid governmental and non-governmental organizations in enhancing their resilience in the face of natural disasters.

Addressing land use planning: A methodology for assessing pre- and post-landslide event urban configurations

With urban areas projected to accommodate 68 % of the global population by 2050, the imperative for inclusive, safe, and sustainable cities becomes paramount. In the timeline of urban centers, landslides represent one of the most destructive phenomena, involving several resources allocation with private and public investments, sometimes claiming human lives. By synergically connecting environmental, planning, and configurational spheres, this study seeks to support the proactive management of landslide risk. The proposed three-step methodology allowed to quantify the environmental features involved in landslide occurrence, evaluate planning framework vulnerabilities, and suggest alternative configurations for urban areas that experienced landslides.The methodology has been applied to the case study involving a tragic landslide in Casamicciola Terme (Italy) in November 2022.First, the stream network and the drainage basin corresponding to confluence point of the landslide into the sea have been calculated (environmental elaborations). Subsequently, these elaborations have been overlapped with the runoff mitigation and the sediment deposition layers, extracted through the INVEST software. Secondly, the reconnaissance of the local and superordinate planning levels has been realized, to deepen planning tools cogency on the study area, contextually deepening the constraints that characterize it. From the overlapping of these two steps, free landslide risk areas have been located. Finally, based on the available territorial surface (Sta) and the territorial cover ratio (Rct), two territorial configuration scenarios have been proposed, envisaging the relocation of the buildings involved into the landslide. Results show that landslide originated by three out of five gullies. Some portions of the urban areas of Casamicciola Terme are still under high and very high hydrogeological risk. Contextually, it emerges poor attention from the local planners to the superordinate planning framework. Historic settlement has an Rct of 33.64 %, while areas in which relocate the built up show an Rct of 32,45 % for scenario 1 and 27,9 % for scenario 2.The methodology resulted useful to address planning vulnerabilities, supporting the realization of alternative configurational scenarios. We expect our research to contribute to the evolving field of disaster risk reduction, by providing a systematic approach to manage landslide risk.

DRR Interview with Terry Cannon: disaster studies: why is class being ignored?

PurposeThe transcript is of one from a number of interviews with disaster risk reduction (DRR) “pioneers” carried out in 2022 as a part of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) project to record the history of the field. It aims to enable one of the “pioneers” to explain his role in the emergence of disaster studies and provide critical commentary on what he considers is wrong with current DRR approaches.Design/methodology/approachTerry Cannon was interviewed to explain the beginnings of his involvement in disasters research and to comment on his views on progress in the field of disaster risk reduction since his early work in the 1980s. The transcript and video were developed in the context of the UNDRR project on the history of DRR.FindingsThe interview provides an account of the origins of the book “At Risk” and why it was considered necessary. This is put into the context of how the field of DRR has emerged since the 1980s. It elicits opinions on what he considers the gaps in both his early work (especially in the book “At Risk” of which he was a co-author) and in the field of DRR recently.Originality/valueIt provides historical context on how early disaster research developed the alternative framework of “social construction” of disasters, in opposition to the idea that they are “natural”. It challenges some of the approaches that have emerged as DRR and has been institutionalised, including its increasing difficulty in supporting the ideas of social construction.

The Role of Trust in Disaster Risk Reduction: A Critical Review.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the concept of trust within the domain of natural disaster management. Trust can be defined as a state of vulnerability where one party relies on another party with the expectation that the latter will carry out entrusted responsibilities without exploiting this inherent vulnerability. This comprehensive literature review is dedicated to the examination of research concerning community and institutional trust in the field of disaster risk reduction (DRR). Particular emphasis is placed on elucidating the influence of trust throughout the distinct phases of natural disaster management, namely prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. The critical examination of the pertinent body of the literature demonstrates that trust plays a central role across the different phases of DRR, being positively associated with effective community responses and resilience. Hence, it becomes imperative to actively foster the development of trust at both institutional and community levels within the realm of DRR. This endeavor is essential for adequately preparing communities to confront natural disasters, crafting effective protocols to enhance community responsiveness and mitigate adverse consequences, and advancing strategies for successful reconstruction and recovery.

Stress state and waves in the lithospheric plate simulation: A 3rd generation AI architecture

Natural disasters present ongoing risks to human life and the global economy, with climate change and environmental factors exacerbating these threats. This article introduces an innovative approach to earthquake prediction and modeling, utilizing a combination of modern mathematical techniques, data-driven methodologies, and artificial intelligence (AI). By integrating the finite element method and wavelet collocation method, our approach enables the solution of complex partial differential equations involving fractional derivatives. This integration provides a more accurate prediction of earthquake behavior by leveraging AI analysis of the resulting numerical solutions.Our advanced modeling technique enables three-dimensional earthquake modeling, surpassing the limitations of traditional methods and offering unprecedented insights. The comprehensive AI approach shows great potential for improving our understanding of earthquake behavior, facilitating the design of earthquake-resistant structures, and effectively mitigating the devastating impacts of earthquakes.This research significantly contributes to the field of disaster risk reduction and offers practical applications for both researchers and practitioners. By combining mathematical rigor, data-driven insights, and the power of AI, our next-generation approach opens new avenues for enhancing our preparedness and response to seismic events.

The Resilience of a Resettled Flood-Prone Community: An Application of the RABIT Framework in Pasig City, Metro Manila

Resilience measurement is an emerging topic in the field of disaster risk reduction. However, its application in Global South cities has proven to be a challenge due to the uniqueness of southern urbanisms and data challenges. As a result, the Resilience Benchmarking Assessment and Impact Toolkit (RABIT) framework has recently been developed to support resilience assessment in informal, marginalized, and disaster-prone contexts of southern cities. This paper asserts the relevance of the RABIT framework and uses it to assess the resilience of Manggahan residences, a resettled marginalized community in Pasig City, Metro Manila. Drawing on a quantitative approach and using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the study revealed that scale, robustness, and learning attributes of the RABIT framework are strong contributors to the community’s resilience. Self-organization, diversity, and redundancy have similar levels of contribution. Equality and rapidity were found to have the weakest relative contribution. The study findings emphasize the need to view resilience in resettled communities holistically and adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach that considers the multiple aspects of everyday life to proactively build adaptive and future resilient capacities.

ВОЗМОЖНОСТЬ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ ИНДЕКСНЫХ ПОКАЗАТЕЛЕЙ В ОПРЕДЕЛЕНИИ УСТОЙЧИВОСТИ МУНИЦИПАЛЬНЫХ ОБРАЗОВАНИЙ

The use of risk indices in the formation of safety data sheets and forecasting of emergency situations is quite a promising direction in the field of disaster risk reduction. Risk analysis by the index method based on international requirements is a fairly new approach in the field of calculating the risks of emergency situations. Currently, the All-Russian Research Institute for Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia is striving to refine this methodology and adapt it for the subjects of the Russian Federation in order to introduce index calculations into the practical operation of the emergency prevention and response System (RSChS), thereby reducing the risk of disasters in municipalities of the Russian Federation.

Bibliometric approach for innovations analysis in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction

ABSTRACT 
 
 Introduction. This study demonstrates the use of bibliometric methods for innovation analysis, using the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Indonesia as a case study. The scientific contribution of this paper is to show the advantages and disadvantages of bibliometrics compared to other methods for analyzing innovations in the field of disaster management.
 Data Collection Methods. This research used journal articles in the field of DRR taken using the keyword of Disaster Risk Reduction and Indonesia from Scopus published in 2008-2020
 Data Analysis. This paper applies a co-occurrence analysis of keywords, institutions and authors to show the emerging innovations as well as institutions and authors involved in DRR innovations development in Indonesia
 Results and Discussion. The result showed that bibliometrics is an approach that can be used to analyze emerging innovations in research related to DRR in Indonesia. In addition, this approach has a number of advantages compared to the discussion and SLR methods, including the ability to display the period of emergence of the innovations and the interaction network between innovations to predict innovations that will become trends in the future.

Concepts and Components of Household Disaster Preparedness: A Qualitative Study

INTRODUCTION: Despite the prevalence of the term “household disaster preparedness”, there is no consensus over a single and clear definition in this regard. The present study aimed to identify the components and explain the concept of household disaster preparedness. METHODS: The present study was conducted based on a qualitative design. After reviewing the concept and components of household disaster preparedness in previous studies, the subjects were selected by purposive sampling from managers and experts active in the field of disaster risk reduction, as well as heads of families. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and were analyzed by the thematic analysis method, then the main and sub-components of household disaster preparedness were identified. FINDINGS: The classification of the components of household disaster preparedness revealed that this concept encompasses cognitive, physical-operational, financial, social, and psychological dimensions. However, household disaster preparedness was defined based on these dimensions. CONCLUSION: Household disaster preparedness consists of different dimensions. In order to evaluate this preparedness, an appropriate instrument is needed to assess all its dimensions.

Disaster Risk Reduction Regime in Japan: An Analysis in the Perspective of Open Data, Open Governance

This paper addresses open data, open governance, and disruptive/emerging technologies from the perspectives of disaster risk reduction (DRR). With an in-depth literature review of open governance, the paper identifies five principles for open data adopted in the disaster risk reduction field: (1) open by default, (2) accessible, licensed and documented, (3) co-created, (4) locally owned, and (5) communicated in ways that meet the needs of diverse users. The paper also analyzes the evolution of emerging technologies and their application in Japan. The four-phased evolution in the disaster risk reduction is mentioned as DRR 1.0 (Isewan typhoon, 1959), DRR 2.0 (the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake, 1995), DRR 3.0 (the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: GEJE, 2011) and DRR 4.0 (post GEJE). After the GEJE of 2011, different initiatives have emerged in open data, as well as collaboration/partnership with tech firms for emerging technologies in DRR. This paper analyzes the lessons from the July 2021 landslide in Atami, and draws some lessons based on the above-mentioned five principles. Some of the key lessons for open data movement include characterizing open and usable data, local governance systems, co-creating to co-delivering solutions, data democratization, and interpreting de-segregated data with community engagement. These lessons are useful for outside Japan in terms of data licensing, adaptive governance, stakeholder usage, and community engagement. However, as governance systems are rooted in local decision-making and cultural contexts, some of these lessons need to be customized based on the local conditions. Open governance is still an evolving culture in many countries, and open data is considered as an important tool for that. While there is a trend to develop open data for geo-spatial information, it emerged from the discussion in the paper that it is important to have customized open data for people, wellbeing, health care, and for keeping the balance of data privacy. The evolution of emerging technologies and their usage is proceeding at a higher speed than ever, while the governance system employed to support and use emerging technologies needs time to change and adapt. Therefore, it is very important to properly synchronize and customize open data, open governance and emerging/disruptive technologies for their effective use in disaster risk reduction.

PROSPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF LIFE SAFETY

The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that in the current conditions economic, technological, social, cultural, and religious competition between states becomes increasingly acute. Global threats are constantly increasing which proves the need for international cooperation in this area – right now many countries around the world are working together to reduce the threat of a large-scale epidemic of acute respiratory infection. New challenges of global scale are emerging, and there are still risks of natural, man-made, bio-social, and other catastrophes that could lead to global crisis situations, which requires Russia to strengthen its role in this area. The article is devoted to the problems of selecting prospects for national innovation and technological strategies that allow giving a new impetus to international humanitarian cooperation and emergency humanitarian response. The main aspect of methodological and legal bases of innovative management in international economic cooperation is the implementation of interrelated measures that provide large-scale assistance in areas of major disasters. Materials and publications of domestic and foreign experts working in the humanitarian field were used as sources in this analysis. The main purpose of the research is to substantiate the prospects for innovative management of international cooperation in the humanitarian sphere and in the field of disaster risk reduction. In accordance with the stated purpose of the study, the key tasks of substantiating the organizational foundations for the formation of an integrated system of international emergency humanitarian response, creating a new economic model of innovative management of international cooperation in the humanitarian field in order to increase economic security were solved. The methodological foundations of the research provide for the theory of constructing a new system of economic interstate humanitarian interaction. As a result of the research, the prospective directions of international economic cooperation and humanitarian cooperation, identified on the basis of a specific historical analysis of the development of such interaction, are analyzed. The article analyzes not only theьstages of building an international humanitarian response system with different countries, but also the experience of creating institutional joint organizations in the field of ensuring life safety at the international level. On this basis, a modern economic model of innovative management of international humanitarian aid is proposed, which meets the principles and spirit of international law. Practical recommendations for increasing the importance of the Russian Federation in the international system of emergency humanitarian response are substantiated. We have developed proposals that will allow our country to make a technological breakthrough in the international humanitarian sphere. The results of the research can be applied in the formation and implementation of the national international policy of humanitarian cooperation in the field of life safety.

Examination of Household Evacuation Influencing Factors In Flood Disaster: A Case Study of Saptari Flood in Nepal

Disaster, a serious disruption in functioning of society whether by natural or manmade cause can happen anywhere. Devastating seismic, hurricane, flood, drought and fire are major disaster. Mitigating disaster risk, prompt rescue and timely evacuation decision during such disaster can prevent loss of lives and properties. The evacuation decision is the choice of people to stay away from the area of risk. The study analyzes the people’s perception of evacuation decisions in a flood disaster in the Saptari district of Nepal affected by Koshi River and other tributaries of it as a Disaster Risk Management. According to United Nations (2016), Management refers to “the organization, planning and applications of measure preparing for, responding to and recovering form disasters”. From the flood-affected site, 246 people were randomly selected for this study and examined the factors influencing evacuation decision-making. The study analyzes the past experiences of the people and their perception. The study has explored that Gender, Destination of evacuation, warning condition, reasons for not evacuating, education, age, proximity to the River from residence, land ownership, the capacity of the people are the factors examined and found no any association with the people’s decision on evacuation during the flood disaster in affected areas in Saptari district. These findings help the student, Disaster Risk Reduction field, Government policy makers and different actors to minimize the loss of lives and properties. The study also recommends for future research on victim’s evacuation decision-making capability in different flood-prone area of Nepal.

Sustainable Digital Transformation of Disaster Risk—Integrating New Types of Digital Social Vulnerability and Interdependencies with Critical Infrastructure

This article explores the relationship between digital transformation and disaster risk. Vulnerability studies aim at differentiating impacts and losses by using fine-grained information from demographic, social, and personal characteristics of humans. With ongoing digital development, these characteristics will transform and result in new traits, which need to be identified and integrated. Digital transformations will produce new social groups, partly human, semi-human, or non-human—some of which already exist, and some which can be foreseen by extrapolating from recent developments in the field of brain wearables, robotics, and software engineering. Though involved in the process of digital transformation, many researchers and practitioners in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction or Climate Change Adaptation are not yet aware of the repercussions for disaster and vulnerability assessments. Emerging vulnerabilities are due to a growing dependency on digital services and tools in the case of a severe emergency or crisis. This article depicts the different implications for future theoretical frameworks when identifying novel semi-human groups and their vulnerabilities to disaster risks. Findings include assumed changes within common indicators of social vulnerability, new indicators, a typology of humans, and human interrelations with digital extensions and two different perspectives on these groups and their dependencies with critical infrastructure.

Consideration of Evacuation Drills Utilizing the Capabilities of People with Special Needs

People with special needs are at higher risk during a disaster than those without because of delayed disaster evacuation behaviors. Therefore, one of the top priorities in the field of disaster risk reduction is implementing evacuation support for the people with special needs. However, assistance is often limited, especially in areas with declining and aging populations. In addition, past evacuation activities for people with special needs have tended to focus on the barriers they face and assistance they need during evacuation rather than their utilizable capabilities. Therefore, this study considers evacuation drills that utilize the capabilities of people with special needs. An “indoor evacuation drill” was developed and the evacuation behaviors of residents with special needs were analyzed. An indoor evacuation drill is defined as an evacuation activity that participants carry out within their own homes – for example, evacuating from the bedroom to an exit. In coastal areas, such a drill helps residents prepare to evacuate their homes in case of a tsunami, while in mountainous regions, it helps them prepare for evacuation to the upper floors in case of a landslide. The study participants were residents of Hamamachi ward (a coastal area) and Kumai ward (a mountainous area) in Kuroshio town, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. The results indicate that an indoor evacuation drill conducted in the participants’ living area, such as the entrance or second floor of their home, is easier to implement than usual disaster evacuation drills, and helps people with special needs regain autonomy in disaster risk reduction activities. Moreover, the participation rate of the target population in local evacuation drills increased after participating in the indoor evacuation drills. Existing evacuation drills often overlook people with special needs, and delays in disaster prevention for this population are often associated with their lack of interest in related activities. However, the results of this study suggest that disaster prevention activities themselves sometimes overlook the challenges faced by people with special needs and prevent them from participating.

Drivers and barriers for the adoption of hazard-resistant construction knowledge in Nepal: Applying the motivation, ability, opportunity (MAO) theory

Despite the recurring social, economic, and humanitarian costs, disaster affected populations repeatedly fail to Build Back Safer housing to protect themselves from future hazards. This paper seeks to understand how affected households interpret and intend to act upon hazard-resistant construction knowledge by assessing their motivation, ability and opportunity (MAO). We present a novel adaptation and application of the social scientific MAO model to the disaster risk reduction field by analyzing empirical data and debating how humanitarian technical assistance either inhibits or facilitates the intention to adopt. In two districts affected by the 2015 Gorkha earthquakes, nearly 1500 households were compared in 25 communities that received different intensities of humanitarian technical assistance to reconstruct safer housing. The application of the MAO model provides a novel understanding of intentions to reconstruct safer housing. Levels of motivation, ability and opportunity demonstrate both positive and negative impacts of technical assistance. Technical assistance did increase the self-efficacy and applicability of knowledge. Nevertheless, significantly lower were acceptability of the knowledge, perceived physical capacity and perceived opportunities to reconstruct. The case of Nepal, despite good intentions of humanitarian agencies, gives reason to rethink technical assistance approaches.

Future research and innovation priorities in the field of natural hazards, disaster risk reduction, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation: a shared vision from the ESPREssO project

The H2020 ESPREssO project (Enhancing Synergies for Disaster Prevention in the European Union), aimed at identifying the existing gaps and key priorities for Research and Innovation (R&I) in the domains of Natural Hazards (NH), Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). Key research priorities have been framed within the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) and the related EU Action Plan, exploring the opportunities emerging from the linkages with the Sendai priorities and the key overarching issues from the literature review and networking activities carried out by ESPREssO project. The many ongoing initiatives at European and Global levels on NH, DRR, DRM and CCA and have been taken into account, with the aim of providing a harmonised framework able to capture the complexity of these fields, in terms of research and innovation and deliver a synthesized view of the emerging priorities.The paper identifies five broad areas of R&I in the field of DRR and CCA where EU investment is needed, highlighting for each of them relevant key topics of investigation. These areas (Improved Risk and Impact Assessment; Better Data for Resilient Future; Risk Governance and Partnership; Overcoming the Implementation Gap in DRR and CCA; Human Behaviour and Disaster Risk) have been suggested by the ESPREssO “Vision Paper” [1] as an answer to the relevant gaps and needs as expressed by the network of stakeholders and international experts engaged during the project. The Vision Paper is available at http://www.espressoproject.eu/images/deliverables/ESPREssO_D5.5.pdf.

Thirty Years of Science, Technology, and Academia in Disaster Risk Reduction and Emerging Responsibilities

The 1990 initiation of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction marked its 30th year in 2019. The three decades since then have seen significant developments in science and technology and their incorporation into the decision making in the field of disaster risk reduction. The disasters that have occurred during that time have enhanced the importance of the field, and new research and innovations have evolved. This article summarizes this evolution through the review of specific milestones. While the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 provides opportunities for synergies with the sustainable development agenda, the science and technology communities have also changed their roles from advisory to co-designing and co-delivering solutions. Higher education plays an important role in developing new generations of professionals, and the role of thematic incubation in higher education institutions is highlighted along with the development of the professional society in disaster risk reduction. The evolution from Society 4.0 (information age) to Society 5.0 will see an enhanced role of the technology-driven approach in disaster risk reduction, while traditional knowledge and indigenous technologies still remain valid for society. Scientists and science communities need to be more sensitive to changing the “last mile” concept to “first mile” thinking with respect to the users’ needs and perspectives.

DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY THROUGH SATELLITE IMAGERY BIG DATA IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION: OPPORTUNITY AND CHALLENGE

The development of current massive technology plays an important role in the field of disaster risk reduction and disaster management. In particular, the issue of disruptive technology in which the emerging of new technologies comes with big disruption in many fields. For instance, the development on using satellite imagery big data for disaster management to reduce the disaster risk.The unique characteristics of big data i.e. volume, velocity, and variety stimulate this study to obtain more information on the big data processing and analyze the opportunities and challenges of satellite imagery in the case of disaster risk reduction through literature reviews. The huge amount of data and the ability for real-time analysis provide capabilities on time series analysis and possitive impact on disaster detection, monitoring, and prediction. However, such technology creates disruption due to the change on using and anlysing the data based on cloud environment. Issues on the technology uses, data security might arise. Nonetheless, the use of satellite imagery big data will remain vastly developed and is able to promote the development of satellite imagery technology.

Understanding the implementation gap: policy-makers’ perceptions of ecosystem-based adaptation in Central Vietnam

ABSTRACT In recent years, nature-based solutions are receiving increasing attention in the field of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation as inclusive, no regret approaches. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) can mitigate the impacts of climate change, build resilience and tackle environmental degradation thereby supporting the targets set by the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework. Despite these benefits, EbA is still rarely implemented in practice. To better understand the barriers to implementation, this research examines policy-makers' perceptions of EbA, using an extended version of Protection Motivation Theory as an analytical framework. Through semi-structured interviews with policy-makers at regional and provincial level in Central Vietnam, it was found that EbA is generally considered a promising response option, mainly due to its multiple ecosystem-service benefits. The demand for EbA measures was largely driven by the perceived consequences of natural hazards and climate change. Insufficient perceived response efficacy and time-lags in effectiveness for disaster risk reduction were identified as key impediments for implementation. Pilot projects and capacity building on EbA are important means to overcome these perceptual barriers. This paper contributes to bridging the knowledge-gap on political decision-making regarding EbA and can, thereby, promote its mainstreaming into policy plans.